ELON MUSK WINS $56BN PAY VOTE BUT IS IT DOWNHILL FROM HERE?

ELON Musk has hogged corporate headlines in recent days over his $56 billion payout package; and he once again proved he never fails to surprise!

-  GURBIR SINGH

The Tesla chief executive had given himself corporate America's largest pay packet in 2018 of $56 billion, but it was struck down by a Delaware judge earlier this year. She called it "an unfathomable sum" and an amount unfair to shareholders. Not deterred, Musk called for a shareholders' vote.

The controversy accelerated when Norway's $1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund operated by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIMM), said it will vote against ratifying the pay package. The Fund, the 8th largest investor in Tesla, said it while it appreciated "the significant value generated under Mr. Musk's leadership since the grant date in 2018, we remain concerned about the total size of the award, the structure given performance triggers, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk."

But egalitarianism and socialism be damned. Small investors, who make up the bulk of Tesla's large investor base, had other ideas. Though several US pension funds joined the Norwegian fund in calling on shareholders to reject the pay package, Elon Musk sailed through. For small shareholders, Musk became a cause; and social media was abuzz with calls to 'remedy the injustice' and vote 'Yes' for Musk.